MAP Design Lab Creates MOVE Studio for Microsoft MR

Nov 3, 2017 3:03 am

Microsoft recently commissioned MAP Design Lab to create a kinetic experience as one of four featured demos showcasing the breadth of Windows Mixed Reality capabilities. Experienced through Microsoft partner headsets and operated using Microsoft controllers and the user's own changes in vertical and lateral movement, MOVE Studio lets users paint, dance, sway and bounce alongside professional Helios Dance Theater dancers and basketball players within specially-crafted artistic environments. All changes within the experience are determined by user movement.

According to its creator Melissa Painter, Founder/Creative Director at MAP Design Lab, the dance and basketball-based MR immersion was commissioned to draw in a greater audience of women, as well as users who may not be gaming aficionados. Pushing forward to create a future computing space that fosters creativity for its users, rather than a purely entertainment space, the experience broadens the inherent MR audience while redefining how users think about and use computers. This new relationship urges users to literally move.

MOVE Studio boasts two modes: "Play" and "Create." Within "Play," everything from sound design to visual effects are transformed based on the users' changing position. In "Create," the user enters a full-scope creators' sandbox for adults, where pairs of dancers or dribbling basketball players can be colored and scaled, then dropped into environments each with their own gravitational and medium characteristics. Both modes allow the user to shape his or her environment with no restrictions, empowering them to freely explore their digital space.